


Not THAT Type of Monster

by nawazarrio



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: F/M, Genderbending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-03-04 07:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3009767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nawazarrio/pseuds/nawazarrio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Easter is ruined when Jacklyn Frost is tricked by Pitch Black. Ashamed and hurt, she flies off to find some solitude. Instead she finds Pitch and he makes her an offer. However, when she misinterprets his offer, she becomes very scared very fast and the Nightmare King informs her- in no uncertain terms- that he is NOT that type of monster. (Basically a retelling of the Antarctic scene.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not THAT Type of Monster

**Author's Note:**

> This story was an answer to a prompt shared on tumblr under the blackice tag:
> 
> Prompt: Genderbend!Jack! Jacklyn Frost is in ROTG, and I do wonder if she would have been treated any differently had he been a she. ALSO Pitch is more sensitive to fears, and doesn't particularly like the rapey sort of fear he gets from Jacklyn when he tries to persuade her, so backs off instead of breaking the staff and flouncing off. Maybe? Sorry if this is a bit incoherent. Should def be blackice or goldenfrost, whichever you prefer~!
> 
> ***PLEASE NOTE there is NO non-con or dub-con involved but this may trigger some people.

She flew as hard and as fast as the wind could carry her. In the moment she didn't care where she ended up but one thing was for certain, she didn't want anything more to do with _them_. Who did the Guardians think they were anyway? It had been their crazy idea to drag her along in the first place. It wasn't like she was _trying_ to be a Guardian with them. After all, they had ignored her for the last three hundred years and only now tolerated her presence because they needed her. What did she owe them? Why shouldn't she seize the opportunity to remember who she was? Why should they care?!

Jacklyn Frost groaned as she touched down. The crisp snow under her bare feet brought her back to the moment, reminded her of the harsh reality she'd flown away from. She'd destroyed Easter. It had been unintentional but of course she'd wrecked the holiday, possibly the Guardians' last chance of restoring order. She cried out and hurled icicles from her staff. What had they expected?! All she was any good for was making a mess!

She tore across the frozen wasteland of Antarctica, kicking up snowdrifts in her wake, not sure where she was going. Not that it mattered. All she could think of was their voices. Their faces. The unrestrained _disappointment_ in her. She'd tried to explain what happened but they wouldn't listen to her. And really, why would they start now? They'd ignored her for so long. She pulled her hair and screamed into the abyss.

Jacklyn dropped to her knees and glared into the distance. She could have been a help to them. If they'd have just listened to her and not chased her away, she would have worked with them, if not for the sake of becoming one of them and belonging then at least for the sake of the children.

She sniffed and rubbed her nose. She would never become a Guardian. She'd never fit in or belong with them. Despite their fake smiles and promises of grandeur, Jacklyn was no fool. She could hear it in their voices when they'd speak to her, Bunnymund always insinuating she wouldn't be able to keep up. "Can ya even race in that dress, sheila?" Jacklyn winced. She had gotten herself leggings after that.

North wasn't much better. He took pride in his inventions, as was his right, but did he have to explain every detail in that excruciatingly obliging voice? Jacklyn might not understand each element of his workings but she wasn't as stupid as he seemed to think. "This spring releases mechanism here- ah, I suppose pretty girl like you does not worry about how machine works, eh?" She stopped asking him questions.

Even Toothiana was no help! Her smile was the worst because it was such a cruel mockery of what it could have been. "Oh, honey, I'm sure you could collect teeth but it's a lot of fast paced work and you have to remember so many addresses." She waved a careless hand. "That's why I have my fairies do so much of the work for me. I mean, it has taken me _years_ to learn all the ins and outs." What was that even supposed to mean? So Jacklyn never offered her assistance again.

Sandy had been the only rational one and he was... Jacklyn bit her bottom lip. She couldn't do anything right. She certainly couldn't think clearly around Pitch. Pitch... She gasped and dug into her hoodie pocket. The tube was cold in her hand. She shouldn't have this. It had come from Pitch Black and nothing good could come from him.

Jacklyn rose to her feet without even thinking to do it. She was walking and then running at the peak ahead of her. She didn't deserve her memories for what she'd done! If only the Guardians knew their punishment wouldn't be the worst she'd receive. Their angry words and disappointed looks would fade from her memory eventually but her own venom would course her veins forever. She could never get out of her own mind.

The crest came upon her sooner than she'd anticipated and she wheeled her arm, tried to throw the tube. But... she just couldn't. A strangled cry passed her chapped lips and she tried again. And failed again. Why couldn't she just throw them away? "Ghaaa!" She gritted her teeth and tried to think of another way.

"I thought this might happen."

She froze. That silken voice which clouded her mind and tied her tongue in knots enveloped her. Not here. Why would he follow her here?

"They never really believed in you. I was just trying to show you that." Pitch's voice dipped there, took the smallest break before continuing on. "But I understand."

Jacklyn's blood burst into flames. She had whirled around and taken to the air before she knew she was going to do it. She'd already hurled a cloud of frost at him and his treacherous words. "You don't understand anything!" And how could he? He was yet another who'd never let her in, had never approached her until she could be of some use. His tactics were different from the others, he used honey words and achingly empty promises to woo her, but his mission was still the same. Recruit that idiot girl, Frost, before she could make any more trouble.

Pitch was every bit as lithe as she recalled. He whirled away from her attack and fired his own with such fluid motions it could only be described as graceful. Yet his voice was rough, desperate, unlike she'd ever heard it before. "I don't?! I don't understand what it's like to be cast out?"

Jacklyn launched herself high and aimed her full blast at him, only to be countered. He was impossibly fast. She could never hope to catch him... especially while she busied herself with flattery for his skills. Perhaps she _was_ just a stupid girl.

"To not be believed in?" The snow cleared and Pitch afforded her a straight shot, he was close enough that even _he_ would be hard pressed to move in time if she took it. She wasn't sure if that made him an idiot or braggart. Perhaps he knew she was confused about him.

If the Nightmare King knew, he didn't let on. A look as fleeting as it was pained, crossed his strong features and his voice was more desperate still. "To long for... a family?" She lowered her staff. Damn him. He knew her too well.

Ever the deceiver, Pitch hung his head in a look of utter defeat. "All those years in the shadows, I thought 'No one else knows what this feels like'. But now I see I was wrong." Her heart squeezed painfully. Damn him, damn him, damn him.

"We don't have to be alone, Jacklyn. _I_ believe in you. And I know children will too." He was advancing, making a circle around her. Her spine stiffened and she knew without a doubt she was in danger. No spider spun silk so fine without planning a lethal bite. There was nowhere for her to go. Her heart began to race.

She had to buy herself some time. Her voice came out as a grunt. "In me?"

His laughter was every bit as delicious as she'd imagined it would be, a deep chocolate with the bitter bite of darkness. She was drawn in like a moth to the flame and she was sure he knew it. As he passed behind her his voice picked up in shrill excitement. She realized with a heavy heart that laughter and fun could have suited him well... if he weren't the Nightmare King.

"Yes!" Pitch smiled and she admired the flash of his wicked teeth. His excitement was almost contagious. "Look at what we can do!" His large hand ghosted across her back and every nerve was set afire, a spike of apprehension spearing her insides. "What goes together better than cold and dark?!"

Jacklyn pulled in a ragged breath. What was he saying? How deep did this insinuation run? She realized her own foolishness too late. They were completely alone in the middle of nowhere. If he chose to overpower her now she'd have no hope of escape. He didn't exactly seem the type but his lingering eyes hadn't gone unnoticed in Toothiana's aviary when he stole the teeth. Jacklyn had always been painfully aware of his lilting words and scarcely concealed implications. He'd always gotten just a bit too close while he spoke to her, reached for her more than once but never closed the gap until now. And while he'd never threatened to violate her before- neither by declaration nor suggestion- their close contact and the threat of his full power made the sinister fear burst into full bloom.

As if he'd received a punch to the stomach, Pitch lurched away. She whirled to face him, thought to raise her staff but... hesitated. The Nightmare King had already fallen back perhaps ten feet. His silver eyes were wide and, for the first time since she'd met him, Jacklyn was sure she was seeing his true emotions. He didn't try to mask his horror and repulsion. It took everything within her not to recoil from his devastation. She'd been the one to feel scared, why should she also have to feel humiliated? Her face went hot and she thought to call the wind-

"No!" Pitch tore his hand through the space between them. His features hardened into an angry mask, mouth sneering. "Don't you dare leave here thinking _that_ of me!"

Jacklyn swallowed and held her staff across her chest, a protective barrier, but let the wind die. She'd sucked her bottom lip into her mouth at some point but she didn't know when. Her breathing was choppy as she waited for him to keep talking.

It took a moment. He pushed his hair back with one hand and straightened his clothes. After what felt like an eternity, he cleared his throat. "You _should_ fear me. I'd always thought you an idiot when you didn't. However," he shook his head, bearing his teeth for just a moment as if swallowing something bitter, "I will not tolerate that sort of fear."

Jacklyn bit her lip to keep away the whirring in her ears. What was he saying?

Pitch put his hands behind his back and continued to watch her, though he kept his distance. "I'm the shadow on the moon at night. I'm the terror in small children's closets. I'm the horror creeping beneath their beds. I'm all of those things, the same as you are snow and laughter. I cannot stop being those things but I am _not_ the monster you have mistaken me for."

Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth and her face was as hot as ever. "I- I didn't mean- I misunderstood. I'm sorry."

He waved a finger at her but still held his place, refused to advance on her. "No. You don't have to be sorry. Fear serves a purpose, it can keep you safe but... I would know if _this_ is the sort of fear I evoke from you. If it is, you can rest assured we will never cross paths again. I will not be the source of such terror."

Jacklyn swallowed. What? No! She didn't want him to go away forever. "I just- misunderstood. I don't want... don't leave for good. I've never thought this of you before, it was just that we were here, alone, and... I know you could overpower me if you chose."

Pitch's shrewd eyes narrowed as he watched her closely. A long quiet stretched between them before he gave her a single nod. "You underestimate yourself, Frost. That can be as dangerous as overestimating." He gave a great sigh and turned his gaze to something in the far off distance. When he looked back again he appeared more like he always had before any of this happened. His indifferent mask was back. "Alright. You'd best run along now, back to your friends, before I decide to ensure you interfere no further."

"Yeah. Okay." Jacklyn kicked up onto the wind but her mind was suddenly racing. She watched him turn as if to leave and heard herself call out to him. "Wait! Pitch!"

He hesitated before finally looking back at her, face oddly blank.

"We can go back to the way we were, can't we?" She'd rushed toward him instead of away, her brain once again in the perpetual fog he seemed to cause. She didn't know why she suddenly needed to know this but she did. "I mean, this really was the only time and- it was just a misunderstanding. We can still..." She blushed and looked away from his face. "We will see each other, right? And you'll get too close when you talk to me and I'll take cheap shots at you and pretend to not hang off of your every word. And we'll... not really hate each other... Right?"

Something dangerously like laughter flashed behind his eyes. She'd flown in close on her own and he narrowed the gap by leaning his face so close to hers she could feel his body heat. His mouth pulled back into a sly smile and his voice became the silken lilt that made her guts clench. "Why, Jacklyn Frost, it's most unbecoming for a Guardian apprentice to openly flirt with the Nightmare King."

She laughed, almost right in his face, and her heart pounded for an entirely different reason. She had no idea what had gotten into her but she couldn't stop herself. "I'm not just flirting with you. I'm going to kiss you." His silver eyes went wide but he didn't pull away when she leaned forward. Their lips met, his warm against hers, and they stayed for just a moment. It was enough. For now. A lasting impression. Jacklyn pulled away and laughed some more as she zoomed upward. She'd never seen him blush before.

Far below Pitch Black watched her. His wide eyes trained on her at least until she couldn't make out the details of his face anymore. Even when she'd turned away to leave, she could feel his heavy gaze on her back. The smile split her face in two and she had to wonder if he'd smile too once he knew she couldn't see it.


End file.
